Politics

By the weekend following the election of 2000, two possible frames were available to the press covering developments in Florida. In the first, Gore had won the popular vote and the outcome in the electoral college was uncertain. In the second, Bush was ahead in the vote in the state that would determine the results in the electoral college and, as such, the presumed victor until Gore proved otherwise. READ MORE

After examining the rhetoric of the network broadcast coverage on election night 2000, it is concluded that although individual “decision desk” call times were not identical across networks, there was a consistent pattern of correct and incorrect calls.READ MORE

The 106th Congress was better than five of the last eight Congresses on four measures of civility – name calling, the use of the word lie, vulgarity and pejoratives for speech – according to a new study released by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the third bipartisan House Retreat at the Greenbrier in WhiteREAD MORE

Those “Not Much Interested in Politics” Have Begun Focusing On Campaign More Americans were able to correctly identify the presidential candidates’ positions on a host of issues after the first two debates than they were prior to the debates, according to a new study released today by the Annenberg Public Policy Center.READ MORE

Where pundits predicted that the allegations would undercut public confidence in his presidency, the opposite seemed to be the case. Bill Clinton’s approval ratings stayed above 60 percent through May. When a reporter questioned whether it was healthy for the public to feel that presidents’ personal lives are not relevant, Clinton declined to answer the question. READ MORE